Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A LUPANE State University (LSU) student has been selected to represent the country at an international business competition for college students to find solutions to climate change related problems facing today’s world.
Mr Bhekilizwe Zwelinjani (pictured), a holder of Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Local Governance and a Diploma in Project Management, is studying towards a Bachelor of Social Science Special Honours Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation at LSU.
He is the only Zimbabwean among 138 students from 500 universities and 79 countries from across the globe who qualified for the Fishbowl Challenge.
The Fishbowl Challenge is a global collaborative product and business planning competition for college students, with the aim of helping them build tech-based social ventures that address the pressing problems in five critical areas.
These include; agriculture, health, economic empowerment, renewable energy and sustainability and education technology. It is a competition, which focuses on global collaboration towards solving some of the biggest problems facing the world today. Only university students are allowed to apply and participate.
To qualify, participants had to choose problems affecting the world and particularly their countries and come up with a write-up with potential solutions.
The qualifying students will also have to recruit or join colleagues from across the world as co-founders and form a team to build world-changing tech.
The LSU student pitched a solution on how science can be used to address deforestation and other climate change challenges. In an interview, Mr Zwelinjani who is also Zanu-PF Youth League member and Hwange District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) Secretary for Science and Technology, said the challenge started this month and will run for six months.
“I pitched a solution on measures of success for successful afforestation through science. It’s the best having to compete on a global stage as I join other students to develop agricultural technology that will assist farmers to beat effects of climate change, fully utilise land and produce more,” he said.
Successful ventures will win up to US$50 000 in equity-free pre-seed funding to launch social ventures.
They will also be assisted in building companies and businesses towards solving world challenges and accessing untapped markets.
Online Reporter